Shining light on the environment

照亮环境

• 批准号: ST/J000574/1
• 负责人: Mark Hodson
• 金额: $ 8.54万
• 依托单位: University of Reading
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Fellowship
• 财政年份: 2011
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2011 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=ST%2FJ000574%2F1
• 关键词: Shining; light; environment

How can earthworms survive in metal-contaminated soil? How has ocean chemistry changed over the lifetime of the planet? Can we boost the nutritional value of food? How can we reduce the risks of arsenic in drinking water? How do radioactive pollutants behave in the environment? Scientists are using the biggest and most expensive scientific machine in the UK to help answer these and many other vitally important environmentally relevant questions.The machine is called Diamond and is the UKs national synchrotron facility. It is funded by the Wellcome trust and the UK government through the Science and Technology Facilities Council. Synchrotrons consist of particle accelerators (like a mini version of the Hadron collider in Switzerland) which fire electrons around a circle close to the speed of light. Every now and then the electrons are "tweaked" on their path and intense light is given off which is used by scientists to look at samples of soils, rocks, water and biological material at incredibly high levels of detail. Using this intense light we can look at how molecules and atoms are arranged and using this information we can help answer some of the questions posed above.Professor Mark Hodson from the University of Reading first used synchrotrons during his PhD research in 1992 when he was working out how magma chambers solidify under volcanoes. Since then he has moved down temperature to work on problems relating to contaminated land and earthworm biology but still uses synchrotrons. There aren't many synchrotrons around in the world and because they are so expensive to build and run it is important to use them 24 hours a day. Also, despite the high level of technology involved in synchrotrons there are many "low-fi" fixes that become necessary such as holding samples in front of a beam of intense X-rays with sticky tape or blue tac. For this reason Mark, like most synchrotron users, has as many memories and experiences of trying to find a vending machine that still has chocolate in it at 3 a.m. in the morning after being up for 48 hours as he has about the scientific breakthroughs that have occurred!Over the course of this fellowship Mark will be involved in a variety of activities. You might come across him talking at a science festival or science discussion meeting near you. Alternatively you might come across him talking to your class at school or, if you are lucky, your school might visit him at Diamond to actually see the machine he is talking about. As well as explaining how synchrotrons work he will be discussing how scientists are using synchrotrons to answer a wealth of questions relevant to climate change and the health of people and the planet. Both in his talks and also on his blog you'll also be able to hear about what it is like to be a user of synchrotrons, from the starting point of any scientific enquiry - making an observation or asking a question - to carrying out experiments, applying for beamtime at a synchrotron and then staying up for 3 days 24 7 to run samples and get some crucial answers to boost your understanding of the system that you're investigating. On the web site you'll also find a host of resources linking in to the use of synchrotrons in environmental science.You may already have read about Mark's research in the newspapers (try googling "Metal munching earthworms!), have heard him on Radio 4 or seen him in documentaries about earthworm evolution and crop circles (and no, there's nothing in the soil that suggests crop circles are made by extra-terrestrials!) but over the course of the fellowship you should be able to hear more about his, and others, research, as he spends more time with the media, letting them know about the amazing environmental science being done at Diamond.

earth如何在金属污染的土壤中生存？在地球的一生中，海洋化学有何变化？我们可以提高食物的营养价值吗？我们如何降低饮用水中砷的风险？放射性污染物在环境中的表现如何？科学家正在使用英国最大，最昂贵的科学机器来帮助回答这些问题和许多其他至关重要的环境相关问题。该机器称为钻石，是UKS国家同步器设施。它由惠康基金会和英国政府通过科学技术委员会资助。同步激素由粒子加速器（例如瑞士的强子对撞机的迷你版本）组成，它们在靠近光速的圆圈周围发射电子。时不时地将电子“调整”在其路径上，并发出强烈的光线，科学家用来查看土壤，岩石，水和生物材料的样品，并以极高的细节来查看。使用这种强烈的光线，我们可以查看分子和原子的布置方式，并使用这些信息，我们可以帮助回答上面提出的一些问题。从1992年他在岩浆中如何固定山脉下的麦芽岩如何稳固时，雷丁大学的专业人士马克·霍德森（Mark Hodson）在1992年的博士学位研究中使用了首次使用的同步性。从那时起，他已经下调了温度，以解决与受污染的土地和worm生物学有关的问题，但仍使用同步基因。世界上周围没有太多的同步基因，因为它们的构建和运行非常昂贵，因此每天24小时使用它们很重要。同样，尽管同步基因涉及高水平的技术，但仍有许多“低保真”修复程序，例如在带有粘胶带或蓝色TAC的强烈X射线前拿样品。出于这个原因，像大多数同步子使用者一样，标记具有许多记忆和经验，即试图找到一台自动售货机，该机关在凌晨3点含有巧克力，因为他在48小时内持续了48小时，就像他对所发生的科学突破有关！在这个奖学金过程中，这将涉及各种活动。您可能会在您附近的科学节或科学讨论会议上遇到他。另外，您可能会遇到他在学校与您的课堂交谈，或者，如果您很幸运，您的学校可能会在Diamond拜访他，实际上看到他在谈论的机器。除了解释同步基因的工作原理外，他还将讨论科学家如何使用同步子来回答与气候变化以及人们和地球的健康相关的许多问题。 Both in his talks and also on his blog you'll also be able to hear about what it is like to be a user of synchrotrons, from the starting point of any scientific enquiry - making an observation or asking a question - to carrying out experiments, applying for beamtime at a synchrotron and then staying up for 3 days 24 7 to run samples and get some crucial answers to boost your understanding of the system that you're investigating.在网站上，您还会发现许多资源，这些资源与在环境科学中使用同步子有关。奖学金您应该能够更多地了解他和其他人的研究，因为他在媒体上花费了更多的时间，让他们知道钻石正在完成的令人惊叹的环境科学。